Drew Timme gave the edited-for-television speech.
Well, sort of. After leading No. 1 Gonzaga past No. 9 Memphis to a 82-78 victory in the second round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament on Saturday, Timme told CBS sideline reporter Andy Katz what he said to the team when the Bulldogs trailed by double digits at halftime.
“I said I don’t give a flying ‘f’ what happens at the end of the game,” Timme said. “Whether we lose or win, we’re not going out as soft guys.”
Drew Timme made sure to censor his postgame interview 😭 pic.twitter.com/NmUoWAnywS
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 20, 2022
That was hard talk considering Timme had four points at halftime, but then he delivered must-see television in the second half. Timme scored 21 second-half points on 9 of 13 shooting to lead the Bulldogs back to the Sweet 16 for the seventh consecutive tournament.
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Label Timme as you see fit. Looks like Jackie Moon, plays like Christian Laettner. Hero. Villain. Character. All the labels fit on some level.
In a game that was a NBA Draftnik’s dream with future lottery picks Chet Holmgren and Jalen Duren going head-to-head, Timme time took over.
Honestly, who cares about his NBA Draft stock? Timme embodied what March Madness is all about. He is the consummate throwback college basketball stud we either love or hate.
Memphis took a 43-31 lead with 19:33 left in the second half, and that’s when Timme ignited an 11-2 run where he scored all of Gonzaga’s points. He hit two layups, a 3-pointer, a fadeaway and a turn-around jumper in the flurry, and the momentum shifted in Gonzaga’s direction.
Then Timme did it with his passing in the clutch. He broke a tie at 66 with an alley-oop pass to Holmgren to give Gonzaga a 68-66 lead. Then he grabbed a rebound off Holmgren’s block and found Andrew Nembhard, who drained a 3-pointer for a 71-66 lead with 4:37 remaining.
Gonzaga never relinquished the lead from there. Those are clutch plays for the program who will fight the nay-sayers every March until longtime coach Mark Few can deliver that first national championship.
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Timme was a key piece on that team last year that was one game away from the perfect season. He scored 12 points in an 86-70 loss to Baylor in the national championship game, and that “soft guy” label returned, at least through the offseason.
Gonzaga tore through the regular season with a 26-3 record, and Holmgren, a 7-foot, 195-pound freshman, received most of the attention. Timme and Holmgren, however, are a perfect tandem for an offense that averaged 88 points per game, and Timme scored 32 points in the 93-72 first-round victory against No. 16 Georgia State.
Through two tournament games, Timme is averaging 28.5 points and 13.5 rebounds while shooting 62.2% from the floor. The Bulldogs head to the West Regional for a matchup with No. 4 Arkansas, and No. 2 Duke remains a possibility in the regional final.
Would Timme be the hero or villain if he was the player who ended Coach K’s career? That is not what college basketball fans will be talking about Sunday.
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It will be that postgame interview, of course. Timme closed that postgame interview with high praise for Nembhard, and the self-censoring slowly came to a halt.
“They were talking crap on him, and you know what, that’s what we expected from him. He brought us home,” Timme said.
From there, Timme could not help himself.
“Good s—,” he told Nembhard. “Good s—, boy.”
Then Timme smiled. Nembhard could barely keep it together on the follow-up question.
“I love this guy, man,” Nembhard said. “I love this guy. We are just trying to keep winning games.”
In this case, live TV was better than the edited version.
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism